Page 10 of Their Dark Rose

CHAPTER TWO

Padding on my bare feet to my en suite bathroom, I stop in front of the vanity.

The black-and-white marble floors are warm under my bare feet. They provide me with ten seconds of peace.

Before I hear him.

“Princess, I hope you’re not sleeping in there.” Falk knocks on the heavy wooden door to my room.

Proving to me how accurate Finn’s warning was regarding his brother’s mood. A new one. A changed one. Much like Finn’s, I can’t pinpoint exactly what that change is. All I know is the chills it gives me.

For years, I’ve been trying to break through his hate for me.

While Mason shows disinterest when talking to me, and Finn shoots me random grins every few months, Falk is my bully.

The man is on my case every chance he gets. He marks red Xs all over my homework. The meals I cook are too hot, too cold, too spicy, or too bland.

His bottle-green eyes are a mixture of agony and anger whenever they’re aimed at me.

Falk’s anger boils and simmers from him on a daily basis. Has for years.

His emotions are far more out in the open than any of the three. He lets them run wild and unrestrained. Some days, I think they rule him and not the other way around.

Today is a good example of that.

His hate doesn’t overrule his voice, but it’s there. There’s no denying it’s there.

The animal in him wants to feed. On my fear. At least that’s what I think Falk’s monster is after.

Seeing through these men used to be easy up until a year ago. Ever since I turned seventeen? Not so much. Not at all, if I’m being honest. The three of them are messing with my head like crazy.

Like how I’d catch Falk looking at me funny for a minute or two lately. But as soon as I’d try to read into that, he’d replace it with one of his signature stoic expressions. Making me believe I was imagining things that weren’t there.

Except, I heard the underlying need in his voice. The hunger. It was there.

Or was it?

On a reckless whim, I choose to dig deep instead of cower from him. To taunt him while hiding my smile. The one that says: Let’s see what you’re made of, Falk Abbot.

“I’ll be right down.” I poke my head out of the bathroom. “Heaven forbid I’m late to fix their royal highnesses their breakfast.”

His hand slams on the door, jolting me. Wiping off my smirk.

“Woke up feeling emboldened, princess?”

I’m neither emboldened nor am I a princess. However, I enjoy teasing him when he can’t glower at me. And the change in his voice as he talks to me now is another perk I’m not willing to let go of.

“I’m planning to do much worse tomorrow.” When I’m eighteen and free.

Leaving isn’t something I’m looking forward to. Once I complete my GED on my own and have my own company, nothing will stop me from leaving.

Nothing except them.

I say it anyway, to test him further.

“You can try.” Falk’s audible snarl snaps the hairs at the back of my neck to attention. “Consider this, though. Big girls with filthy mouths get big girl punishments. Doing three science projects back-to-back will be a child’s game in comparison.”

Goosebumps rake across every inch of my skin at his harsh words.

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